The Chinese Bell Murders

Thirteenth Chapter:

Judge Dee returned to Poo-yang late in the afternoon of the next day.

After a hasty meal in his private office, during which Sergeant Hoong related the latest developments briefly, the judge had Ma Joong and Tao Gan called in to present their reports.

'Well, my brave,' Judge Dee said to Ma Joong, 'I hear that you found our man. Tell me the entire story!'

Ma Joong related his adventures of the two preceding nights and concluded:

'That man Hwang San corresponds in every detail to the description Your Honour gave me. Furthermore, these two hairpins are exactly identical with the sketch in the files here.'

Judge Dee nodded contentedly.

'If I am not greatly mistaken we shall be able to close this case tomorrow. You will see to it, Sergeant, that all persons connected with the rape-murder of Half Moon Street are present at the morning session of the tribunal.

'Now, Tao Gan, let us hear what you have discovered about Mrs Liang and Mr Lin Fan.'

Tao Gan gave a detailed account of his investigation, including the attempt on his life and Ma Joong's well-timed intervention.

Judge Dee expressed approval of Tao Gan's decision not to continue the investigation of the Lin mansion pending his return.

'Tomorrow,' Judge Dee announced, 'all of us shall have a conference here regarding the case of Liang versus Lin. I shall then tell you what conclusions I arrived at by studying the records and explain the action I propose to take.'

Then the judge dismissed his lieutenants and had the senior scribe bring in the official correspondence that had accumulated during his absence.

The news of the capture of the criminal of Half Moon Street had spread like wildfire through Poo-yang. Early the next morning a large crowd assembled in the tribunal long before the appointed hour.

When Judge Dee was seated behind the bench, he took up his vermilion brush and filled out a slip for the warden of the jail. Two constables dragged in Hwang San and pushed him to his knees in front of the dais. He groaned with pain as he bent his knee, but the headman shouted: 'Shut up and listen to His Excellency!' 'What is your name,' Judge Dee enquired, 'and for what crime are you brought before this tribunal?'

'My name ---' Hwang San began. The headman of the constables hit him on the head with his club and barked: 'You dog, speak reverently in front of your magistrate!' 'This insignificant person,' Hwang San said in a surly voice, 'is called Hwang, personal name San. I am an honest mendicant monk who has resigned from all worldly affairs. Last night I was suddenly assaulted by one of the runners of this tribunal and dragged to jail for some unknown reason.'

'You dogshead!' Judge Dee shouted, 'what about your murdering Pure Jade?'

'I don't know whether the wench was called Pure Jade or Impure Jade,' Hwang San said in a surly tone. 'But let me tell you that you won't pin the death of that harlot in Mother Pao's place on me! She hanged herself and I was not there at the time. That can be proved by several witnesses.'

'Spare me your sordid stories,' Judge Dee said sourly. 'I, the magistrate, tell you that on the night of the sixteenth you foully murdered Pure Jade, the only daughter of Butcher Hsiao Foo-han!'

'Your Honour,' Hwang San replied, 'I don't keep a calendar and I have not the faintest idea of what I did or did not do on that particular date. And the names you mention mean nothing to me.'

Judge Dee sat back in his chair. He pensively stroked his beard. Hwang San answered his conception of the rape-murderer in every detail and the hairpins had been found in his possession. Yet Hwang San's denial had the unmistakable ring of truth. Suddenly a thought struck the judge. He leaned forward in his chair and said:

'Look up at your magistrate and listen carefully while I refresh your memory. In the south-west corner of this city, over the river, there is a street of small shopkeepers. It is named Half Moon Street. On the corner of that street and a narrow alley is a butcher's shop. The butcher's daughter lived in a garret over the godown at the back of the shop. Now did not you effect entry into the girl's room by means of a strip of cloth that was hanging outside the window? And did not you rape and strangle her, making off with her golden hairpins?'

Judge Dee saw a flash of understanding in the one shifty eye that Hwang San was still able to open. The judge knew that this was after all his man.

'Confess your crime!' Judge Dee shouted at him, 'or shall I put the question to you under torture?'

Hwang San muttered something and then said in a loud, clear voice:

'You can accuse me of any crime you like, you dog-official. But you will wait long before I confess to a crime I did not commit!'

'Give that wretch fifty lashes with the heavy whip!' Judge Dee ordered.

The constables tore off Hwang San's robe, baring his muscular torso. The heavy thong swished through the air and slashed across the accused's back. Soon Hwang San's back was a mass of torn flesh and his blood stained the flagstones. However, he did not scream, emitting only deep groans. After the fiftieth blow he fell unconscious and his face struck the stone floor.

The headman revived him by burning vinegar under his nose and then offered him a cup of strong tea which Hwang San disdainfully refused.

'This,' Judge Dee remarked, 'is but the beginning. If you don't confess, I shall subject you to real torture. Your body is strong and we have the whole day before us.'

'If I confess,' Hwang San said hoarsely, 'you will chop my head off. If I don't confess I shall die under torture. I prefer the latter! I am willing to stand a little pain for the pleasure of getting you, dog-official, into trouble!'

At that the headman smashed Hwang San on the mouth with the butt of the whip. He was going to strike him again when the judge raised his hand. Hwang San spat some of his teeth on to the floor and uttered a horrible curse.

'Let me have a close look at this insolent dog,' Judge Dee said.

The constables jerked Hwang San to his feet and Judge Dee looked into his one, cruel eye. The other eye was a mass of swollen flesh as a result of the blow he had received in the fight with Ma Joong.

Judge Dee thought to himself that this was the type of degenerate, habitual criminal that would probably stand by his word and die under torture rather than confess. In his mind he rapidly reviewed what Ma Joong had told him about last night's encounter and his conversation with Hwang San.

'Let the criminal kneel down again!' the judge commanded. Then he took up the golden hairpins that lay on his desk. He threw them over the edge. They clattered to the floor, in front of Hwang San. He looked sullenly at the shining gold.

Judge Dee ordered the headman to bring Butcher Hsiao before him.

As the butcher knelt at Hwang San's side, Judge Dee said:

'I know that an evil destiny is connected with these hair needles. I have not, however, heard your full account of them.'

'Your Honour,' Butcher Hsiao began, 'in the old days, when my family still was fairly well off, my grandmother bought these pins in a pawnshop. By that unfortunate act she drew a fearful curse on our house. For a terrible destiny is connected with these things, caused by who knows what gruesome crime in the past. A few days after she got them two robbers broke into her room, killed my grandmother and stole the hairpins. They were caught while trying to sell the pins and they were beheaded on the execution ground. Had but my father then destroyed these harbingers of evil! He, however, was a virtuous man, blessed be his memory, and he let his feelings of filial piety prevail over his judgement.

'The next year my mother fell ill, complaining of a mysterious headache, and after a long illness she died. My father lost the little money he had and died shortly afterwards. I wanted to sell the hairpins, but my wife, the stupid person, insisted that they should be kept in reserve for a day of great need. And instead of keeping the evil things locked safely away, she let our only daughter wear them. And see what terrible fate befell the poor girl!'

Hwang San had listened intently to the tale which was told in simple language familiar to him.

'Accursed be Heaven and Hell!' he burst out, 'it would have to be me to steal those hairpins!'

A murmur arose from the crowd of spectators.

'Silence!' shouted Judge Dee.

He dismissed the butcher and addressed Hwang San in a conversational tone.

'No one can ever escape the decree of destiny. It does not matter whether you confess or not, Hwang San. The hand of Heaven is against you and you will never escape-here or in the Nether World!'

"What do I care after all, let us get this over and done with,' Hwang San replied. Then, addressing the headman he said: 'Let me have a cup of that filthy tea, you bastard!'

The headman was highly indignant, but at a peremptory sign of the judge he gave Hwang San a cup of tea.

Hwang San gulped it down, spat on the floor and said:

'I don't care whether you believe it or not, but if there was ever a man who has been persecuted by bad luck his whole life, it is me. A fine strong fellow like me should have ended his days at least as the head of a great robber gang. But what happened? I am one of the best boxers in the Empire, I had a master who knew all the tricks. But as bad luck would have it he had a nice-looking daughter, I liked her but she did not like me. I don't stand for nonsense from a woman, so I raped the foolish wench and had to flee for my life.

'Then I met a merchant on the road. He looked for all the world like the god of wealth in person. I just hit him once, just to make him amenable. Of course, the feeble wretch had to die then and there! And what did I find in his girdle? Nothing but a bunch of worthless receipts. And so it was always.'

Hwang San wiped off some of the blood that had oozed from the corners of his mouth and continued:

'A week or so ago I sauntered through the smaller streets in the south-west quarter, looking for some late passer-by to intimidate into giving me some alms. Suddenly I saw a fellow slip across the street and disappear into a narrow alley. I thought it was a thief and followed him to share the loot. But by the time I had entered that alley the fellow was nowhere to be seen and everything was dark and quiet.

'A few days later-and if you say it was the sixteenth then it was the sixteenth-I found myself in that neighbourhood again. I thought I might as well have another look into that alley. It was completely deserted but I saw a long strip of good cloth hanging outside an upper window. I thought that that was a piece of laundry that people had forgotten to take in for the night. So I walked over to take it along, to have at least something for my trouble.

'Standing close to the wall, I gave it a gentle tug to make it come down. Suddenly the window above opened, I heard a soft woman's voice, and noticed that the strip was slowly being hauled in. I knew at once that the wench had a tryst with a secret lover and thought that that was my chance to steal whatever I would like; for she would never dare to raise the alarm. Thus I took hold of the strip and pulled myself up on the window-sill. I was standing in the room while the woman was still busy hauling in the strip.'

Hwang San leered and went on:

'She turned out to be a young comely wench, which was not hard to see since she was, so to speak, all undressed for the part. Now I am not a man to let a chance like that go by, so I clapped my hand over her mouth, and whispered: "Keep your mouth shut! Close your eyes and just imagine that I-am the fellow you were expecting." That girl, however, fought like a tigress and it took me some time to subdue her. Even after I had finished with her she would not keep quiet. She made a run for the door and started shouting. I strangled her then and there.

'I hauled in the strip of cloth to keep that paramour of hers away and then rummaged through her possessions to look for money. With my bad luck I should have known better. I did not find one single copper cash, only those accursed hairpins.

AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR SURPRISES PURE JADE

'Now let me put my thumb-mark on that scrap of paper your scribbler is working on. I don't want to hear the story read out again! For the girl's name you can put in anything you like. Let me go back to the jail. My back hurts.'

'The law,' Judge Dee said coldly, 'says that the criminal shall hear his confession before he affixes his thumb-mark.'

He ordered the senior scribe to read aloud Hwang San's confession as he had noted it down. When Hwang San had sullenly agreed that it was correct, the paper was placed before him and he affixed his thumb-mark to it. The judge said in a solemn voice:

'Hwang San, I pronounce you guilty of the double crime of rape and murder. There are no extenuating circumstances and this was even a particularly brutal murder. It is my duty, therefore, to warn you that the higher authorities will probably condemn you to the extreme penalty in one of its more severe forms.'

He gave a sign to the constables and Hwang San was led back to his cell.

Judge Dee had Butcher Hsiao brought before him once more.

'A few days ago,' said the magistrate, 'I promised you that in due time I would bring the murderer of your daughter to justice. Now you have heard his confession. Terrible indeed is the curse that August Heaven chose to lay on those golden hairpins. Your poor daughter was raped and murdered by a low ruffian who did not even know her name and cared less. 'You can leave the hairpins here. I shall have them weighed by a goldsmith and the tribunal shall pay you their value in silver.

'Since this despicable criminal has no property, no blood money can be paid to you. However, you shall presently hear my arrangements for the compensation of your loss.' Butcher Hsiao began to thank the judge profusely, but the magistrate stopped him and told him to stand back. Then he ordered the headman to bring Candidate Wang before him.

The judge examined the latter closely and noticed that his recent exoneration of the double crime of rape and murder had done nothing to lighten his grief. On the contrary, the confession of Hwang San had shocked him deeply, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

'Candidate Wang,' Judge Dee said gravely, 'I could have you punished severely for seducing the daughter of Butcher Hsiao. You have, however, already received thirty lashes and since I believe you when you say that you were deeply in love with the victim, I take it that the memory of this tragedy will be a heavier punishment than this tribunal could ever impose.

'Yet this murder must be redressed and the family of the victim compensated. I therefore rule that you shall marry Pure Jade posthumously as your First Wife. The tribunal shall advance to you a suitable brides-gift and the ceremony shall be conducted in the proper way, Pure Jade's soul-tablet taking the place of the bride. When you have passed your examination, you shall repay your debt to the tribunal in monthly instalments. At the same time you shall pay a sum to Butcher Hsiao every month, to be fixed by me on the basis of your official salary, till a total of five hundred silver pieces is reached.

'When in due course you shall have paid off those two debts, you shall be allowed to marry a second wife. But never shall she or any other secondary wife be allowed to usurp the place of Pure Jade, who shall be considered as your First Wife till the end of your days. Butcher Hsiao is an honest man, you shall honour and serve him and his wife as a dutiful son-in-law. They, on their part, shall forgive you and stand by you as your own parents would have done if they were still alive. Now go and devote yourself to your studies!'

Candidate Wang repeatedly knocked his head on the floor, sobbing freely. Butcher Hsiao knelt by his side and thanked Judge Dee for his wise arrangements for restoring the honour of his family.

As they rose, Sergeant Hoong bent over to the judge and whispered something in his ear. Judge Dee smiled thinly and said:

'Candidate Wang, before you go one minor point remains to be cleared up. Your statement about the way you spent the night from the sixteenth to the seventeenth is true in every detail save for one mistake which you made in good faith.

'During my first reading of the records it seemed already impossible to me that a thorny bush could have produced such deep gashes on your body. When in the uncertain light of dawn you saw piles of bricks and some undergrowth, you quite naturally took it that you had landed among the ruins of an old mansion. In fact, however, you had come to a plot where a new house was being built. The masons had left piles of bricks lying around for the outer walls and preparations had been made for erecting the plaster inner walls in the usual way, that is by constructing rows of thin bamboo stakes, as a frame for the plaster. You must have fallen on their sharp points, which would cause exactly that type of gashes. If you feel so inclined you may search for such a plot in the vicinity of the Five Tastes Inn, I don't doubt that you will then find the place where you passed that fateful night. Now you may go.'

Then Judge Dee rose and left the dais with his lieutenants.

As he passed through the screen that opened on his private office, a murmur of admiration rose from the crowd of spectators.